Saugerties school board rescinds health insurance hike

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. -- The Board of Education this week reversed a resolution that had increased the amount of money confidential employees paid for health insurance coverage.

The board made the move after learning the higher costs went against district policy.

On Aug. 28, 2012, the board adopted a resolution providing confidential employees with a 4 percent pay raise for the 2012-13 school year and requiring full-time confidential employees to increase their health insurance contributions from 5 percent to 7 percent. On Tuesday, board President George Heidcamp said those employees could not be asked to pay the additional 2 percent for their health insurance because district policy states they are entitled to the same benefits as members of the Saugerties Educational Support Association. He said members of that union pay 5 percent for their health insurance benefits.

The confidential employees include the individuals who work in the district's administrative office. Heidcamp said he spoke to the school district's attorney, who said those employees would need to be reimbursed for the extra amounts they have paid.

Advertisement

"The Board of Education has the option of going back to the policy and changing that policy, but it would not be retroactive," Heidcamp said. He recommended sending the matter to the board's Policy Committee, chaired by Teresa Bach-Tucker. Heidcamp said the committee could bring a policy change back to the board for consideration.

"In the meantime, this Board of Education has an obligation to support this motion tonight because we erred in our decision," Heidcamp said. "We went against the policy, and it was an honest mistake."

The board on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution that states the confidential employees will not be required to pay the additional 2 percent for health insurance and that the superintendent will make arrangements to reimburse them for the excess payments.

In a separate resolution, the board voted 5-4 against providing a 2 percent salary increase to confidential employees for the 2013-14 school year. Voting to reject the raises were Heidcamp, Bach-Tucker, Donald Tucker, Angie Minew and Florence Hyatt.

In other business, Bach-Tucker said an internal audit showed the district was in good financial standing but was unable to claim $328,471 in state aid from 2003-04 to 2008-09. She said those funds were not claimed in the correct time period, which dates to when Joseph Dziadik was the district's business manager.

Bach-Tucker, who chairs the board's Audit Committee, said she does not know how the ball was dropped in that matter but that current Business Manager Lissa Jilek has put safeguards in place to prevent it from happening again.